Throw out the Lifeline – Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund
Thanks to all FUSE members who contributed in their buildings to the NYSUT “Disaster Relief Fund.” FUSE will be sending a check this week for $1,200 to the fund to help our union colleagues who have been affected by the storm and who are still struggling to get their lives and homes back to normal.
Superintendent is Recovering Well
All reports are that Superintendent Richard Organisciak is recovering well from his recent surgery. Though still on “medical leave” he has been working from home and has been in frequent communication with our Assistant Superintendents, keeping up to date on the goings-on throughout the school district.
I know that all FUSE members join me in wishing him continued recovery and good health, and look forward to welcoming him back to the district in a few more weeks.
2013 -2014 School Budget
There is finally some good news to report on this topic. During the week schools were closed for Spring Recess, the State Legislature approved a budget that increases state aid to education. This increased aid will bring an additional 1.2 million dollars to New Rochelle and will result in the restoration of approximately 12 instructional positions previously slated to be abolished.
The restoration of these 12 positions means that the number of layoffs projected by the Board at the Budget Review Sessions has decreased from 56 positions to 44 positions. It is hoped that, in the next two weeks as the Board and district administrators review the budget for additional areas of savings, the number of layoffs will decrease even more.
The Board has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, April 17 to vote on the preliminary budget. By law, the Board must vote on the proposal before it can be put to the community for approval on May 21.
At Wednesday’s meeting, it was reported that a discordant note was struck by Adam Egelberg, an active parent who frequently attends Board meetings and had served on the Citizens Advisory Council in 2012. Though I was not at the meeting, it was reported by FUSE members in attendance, including Vice President Billy Coleman, that Mr. Egelberg blamed the FUSE and its members for many of the fiscal problems facing the school district.
Specifically Mr. Egelberg is reported as saying that our current contract had been too generous to our members in both salary and health insurance agreements. He is also on the record as saying that “due to the annual wage increases contractually promised in our union contract, those salaries go up 3% every year” in addition to the negotiated “across the board” raises. I believe he is referring to the “step increases” that members earn every three years, not every year, and which stop after 20 years of service – which even a cursory look at our salary tables would demonstrate.
This is an example of either willful ignorance about our contract and its salary provisions or a deliberate mis-representation of what our contract’s salary provisions are. Either way it is disappointing that someone who has served as a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee last year doesn’t understand our pay scale and “steps” and has not made any effort to get his facts straight.
Fortunately, district administrators and most Board members have made it clear at each of the Board meetings to review the budget that employees of the school district have sacrificed in order to maintain jobs and programs throughout the fiscal crisis of the last few years. We have deferred “across the board” raises in the past, and in 2011-2012 took no across the board raise at all. In addition our contributions to health insurance premiums have increased in 2012 and will increase again in 2013. Our salaries rank us in the middle of the region yet our health insurance contributions are similar to more affluent school districts in the county.
The teachers and school related professionals, over 53% of whom live in New Rochelle, have made sacrifices to insure that our district can offer a rigorous and well rounded educational program to our students despite the difficult economic times we find ourselves in. It is unfair to spout inaccurate half truths to suggest otherwise.
Notification of Members Affected by Staffing Reductions
Despite the modest good news that at least 12 instructional positions will be saved as a result of the increase in state aid, it is still most likely that some members will be facing layoffs as a result of budget cuts causing a reduction in staff.
Some Civil Service staff members have already been notified that their jobs will not exist or will be downgraded in the next school year; however, no pedagogic members have been notified that their positions have been abolished yet.
At this point in time, the Board and the district’s administrators are still reviewing proposed cuts and have not reached any final decisions about which teaching positions will be eliminated. The Board’s decision to restore 12 teaching positions last week has given the administration the chance to review and revise their previous first round decisions about which areas of instruction will be facing reductions and layoffs.
Final choices about the reduction or elimination of positions must be decided by the Board’s April 17 meeting. Members who will be affected by layoff will receive notification from the district’s Human Resources office immediately following the Board’s approval of the preliminary budget.
SRP and Job Descriptions
In our contract, there are approximately 75 – 85 Civil Service job titles which belong to our “School Related Professionals” or SRP members. Each one of these job titles has a “job description.”
Civil Service job descriptions define the nature of the work and offer illustrative examples of tasks that are applicable to each of the job titles held by our SRP colleagues. These job descriptions are rooted in the specifications which the appointing authority, the City School District, deems relevant to a particular job title. The descriptions are reviewed and approved by New Rochelle’s Municipal Civil Service Commission.
Job descriptions – or job specs—are the basis of FUSE representation for all of the SRP positions covered under our bargaining agreement. When members work outside of their particular job title and perform duties not specified in his/her job description, the consequences can be harmful to both the union and other members. Ignoring job specs can undermine the ability of the FUSE to maintain the “scope” of the job description and may even prevent other members from opportunities for advancement, promotion overtime or upgrades. Members should think twice before agreeing to take on tasks or assignments that do no comport with their job title.
Every job description is important and each one should be observed by both management and labor. Members with questions or concerns about job descriptions should feel free to contact FUSE Executive Vice President Sandy Annunziata or FUSE Vice President for SRPs, Billy Coleman.
NYSUT RA, Presidents Conference in Washington, D.C.
This week, NYSUT delegates and activists will gather for the annual Representative Assembly, putting our collective voice to work. The three-day policymaking assembly begins by recognizing excellence among our members and gets down to business with debate and action on 65 resolutions and a proposed constitutional amendment.
Many guests and leaders will come out to visit the convention, including AFT President Randi Weingarten, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, Washington Teachers Union President Nathan Saunders, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, state AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and education Commissioner John King.
The RA is preceded by the Local and Retiree Council Presidents Conference Wednesday and Thursday. Members of New York’s congressional delegation will be joining conference participants at the Wednesday evening special event. Some also are expected to visit Thursday during the breakfast plenary when speakers will include U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop, D-Southampton.
Follow the convention on Twitter using hashtag #NYSUTRA and on the web site at NYSUT.org.
Delegates from New Rochelle attending the convention are Martin Daly, Sandy Annunziata, Cory Binenbaum, Billy Coleman, Aisha Cook, Vic Cristiano, Diane Delgado, Ann Marie Manganiello, Matthew Reid and Cheryl Smith.
NYSUT’s Campaign to Call Attention to High Stakes Testing
NYSUT’s campaign to ensure that testing in New York State is done right has ignited — and is riding — a wave of popular sentiment in the news media this week. The signature count grows with more than 6,000 union members, parents and community supporters having signed the NYSUT petition objecting to the over-reliance on testing in the first few days. Strongly encourage your members to HYPERLINK “http://locals.nysut.org/r.php?c/22b1/TURhbHlAbnJlZC5vcmc” \t “_blank” sign and share the petition today.
This campaign builds on the momentum of the “Tell it like it is” web letter campaign and the “Tell it” listening tour. Please continue to take the time to compose letters that will be delivered to the Regents and the education commissioner. We hope to top 10,000 letters by a week from today when Commissioner King visits the RA. Go to http://testing.nysut.org/ to sign the petition and leave a message for the Board of Regents and the Commissioner.
Poll: Parents support union position, reject speed of Common Core, test implementation
Sending a clear message to SED, 81 percent of parents say their children have not had enough time to prepare for standardized tests on the state’s new Common Core learning standards; 78 percent believe this year’s tests should not count at all, and 88 percent say they should not be used for high-stakes decisions for students and teachers, according to a new poll conducted by the polling center at NYSUT.
In addition, 73 percent of parents say there is “too much” standardized testing, while 80 percent say the state and school districts spend too much time on testing. Here’s NYSUT’s news release announcing the results: http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/mediareleases_18846.htm.